Direct-acting engine



2y Sheets-Sheet .1,

(No Model.)

J G. LBYNER. DIRECT ACTING ENGINE.

No. 567,682. Patented sept. 15,1396.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.V

J. G. LB'YNER. 5 DIRECT ACTING ENGINE.

31A/oem boi a@ @2% UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

.IOIIN GEORGE LEYNER, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

`Dl'RlacT-Acrl'lue ENGlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 567,682, dated September 15, 1896.

Application filed October 2l, 1895.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN GEORGE LEYNER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DirecteActing Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in valve mechanism for direct-acting engines; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide a balance-valve; second, to provide a valve which can be reversed end for end in the valve-chest; third, to provide a valve which at all parts of its stroke is under complete and instantaneous control of the expansive fiuid; fourth, to provide a valve which always occupies the same end of the valvechest as the piston does that of the cylinder 5 dfth, to provide a valve-chest that can be reversed end for end on the cylinder. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated and described in the accompanying drawings and specifications, in which- Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section through such parts of a direct-acting engine as are necessary to illustrate my improved valve mechanism and through the center of Fig. 2 on line A, the piston and rifle bar being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the cylinder. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal plan view of the valvechest in section through line B of Fig. 1, showing a plan view of the valve. Fig. et represents a transverse section through the valvechest and the cylinder on line O of Fig. l and line O of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a plan view of the bottom of the valve-chest. Fig. 6 represents a section through the valve-ch est and one of the induction-ports of the cylinder on line E of Figs. l and 3. Fig. '7 represents a similar view 011 lines F of Figs. l and 3.

Similar letters and :figures of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to Fig. jl, G designates the cylin- Serial No. 566,355. (No model.)

der of a direct-acting engine; II, the back head; I, its cover or auxiliary head; J, the front head; K and L, the buffers; M, the piston-head; N, the piston-rod, and N a hole through the cylinder in which the feed-screw,

`which is not shown, is confined; N2, the riflebar; I 3, theratchet, and N4 one of the pawls.

On the cylinder I form a suitable table portion O, upon which I secure the valve-chest I forni and arrange the valve-chest and the screws with which it is secured to the table portion so that it may be reversed end for end on the said table portion and so that its ports will register as well one way as the other. This arrangement makes it impossible for operators of the engine to place and secure the valve-chest in a wrong position on the cylinder. It also allows the throttle to be placed on either side of the drill, which is an advantage where two drills are worked side by side in a drift or tunnel, as they can be arranged more advantageously. The valve chest I) consists of a circular shell with a flat projecting base adapted to I it on the table portion of the cylinder. rlhe base is provided at the corners with holes Q, to receive capscrews, by which it is secured to the said table portion of the cylinder, which is likewise provided with threaded holes R, registering with those in the base of the chest. Throughthe valve-chest a hole S is bored from end to. end. The ends are then counterbored and threaded, and plugs U are threaded to fit them, and thus close both ends of the chest. The plugs are provided with a square hub portion U', by which they are turned in and out of the ends of the chest. Between the plugs and the bottom of the counterbore I place a rubber buffer V and a steel buifer-plate IV. These buffers receive the thrust of the valve. The valve T is a long cylindrical piece of metal, divided into four circular seat portions, with depressions between them. The peripheries of the seats are adapted to fit snugly but freely the bore of the chest. I make the ends ofthe valve on each side of its center line exactly alike, in order that it may register with the ports of the chest either way it is placed in it, and thereby obviate the danger of the valve being placed in the steanrchest the wrong way. Both ends of the valve have holes X cored in them, extending to within a short IOO distance of the valves center, and small holes Y and Z are drilled from the central reduced portion 1 into each end hole.

2 designates the air or steam inlet. It communicates with a circular recess 8 formed in the valve-chamber, which is adapted to give a larger space around the central portion of the valve than the diameter of the bore of the valve-chamber afford. (See Fig. 4.)

4 and 5 designate induction-ports. They extend in opposite directions through the bottom of the valve-chest into the shell of the cylinder (see Fig 6) and along through it to the ends of its piston-bore. The circular seats 6 and 7 of the valve are formed at equal distances from the center of the valve to register with and to cover the ports when the valve is in a central position of its stroke, as shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 8 the valve is shown at one end of its stroke and the port 4 is open to the inlet-passage, and would conduct the expansive fluid to the end 8 of the cylinder, and the port 5 is closed to the fluid by the seat 6 of the valve, but is open to its exhaust-port 9, which communicates with the exhaust-outlet 10 through the passage 1l. The exhaustport 12 is placed in communication with the induction-port 4 when the valve moves to the opposite end of its stroke. These exhaustports consist of recesses formed in the circumference of the valve-seat or bore, which communicates with the exhaustoutlet 10 through its passage 11, a cross-section of which, through lines F and F of Figs. 1 and 8, is shown in Fig. 7. Both the steam-inlet and exhaust outlet of the valve-chest are threaded interior-ly for pipe connection therewith. In each end of the valve-chest I drill a hole 13 and 14. These holes register with slots 15 and 16, formed in the bottom of the valvechest. (See Fig. 5.) The slots 15 and 16 are of equal lengths, and at equal distances from the center of the chest they register with holes 17 and 18, drilled through the shell of the cylinder into the piston-chamber. These holes pass-directly through a circular partition of metal' 19, formed in the center of the induction-ports. (See Fig. 7.) In the central portion of the bore G of the cylinder I form a circumferential recess 20, which extends, preferably, entirely around it. I also form a recess 21 centrally in the cylinder to extend lengthwise of it along its bottom. Its length is made to correspond to the distance apart of the holes 17 and 18, and its extreme ends preferably terminate diametrically under the outer wall of each hole from the center of the cylinder, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The recess consequently cuts directly through the circumferential recess 20, this arrangement of the cylinder being similar to that shown in my patent, No. 508,430, dated November 14, 1893. From the table portion of the cylinder I drill two holes 22 and 23 into the circumferential recess 2O of the cylinder, drilling or counterboring them larger at the top and arranging them on each side of the cylinders longitudinal axis and at equal distances from it and on a line passing transversely across the cylinder and valve-chest centrally between the induction-ports 4 and 5. These holes are thus carefully positioned in order that one of them may register with the hole 24, which I drill through the bottom of the valve-chest into the exhaust-outlet passage 11 to register with them. Consequently with this arrangement of the various ports the valve-chest is reversible end for end on the cylinder, and the ports will register perfectly both ways, and the valve is also reversible end for end in the valve-chest.

The `piston-head M is provided with the usual expansive rings 25,and in its central portion I form one or two or more circular ring portions by reducing the diameter of the head at two or three or more predetermined points, two rings being shown, which makes three reduced portions. The reduced portions 26 are arranged to uncover a portion of each of the exhaust-holes 17 and 18 when the piston is in the center of the cylinder and act as ports to convey the expansive fluid to the re' cess 20, and the central reduced portion 27 to register with the circumferential recess 21. Consequently when the piston is in the center of the cylinder both ends of the valve-chest are open to the atmosphere and also to the expansive iiuid which flows through the holes Y and Z in the valve, through the holes 13 and 14, the slots 15 and 16, the holes 17 and 18, around the reduced portions 26, through the longitudinal recess 20, under the ring 28, and outthrough the circumferentialrecess 21 into the hole 24 to the exhaust-outlet; and if the piston is moved in one direction one of these holes 17 or 18 is closed by the piston and the other is open until the piston closes it onits return stroke, when the other is opened. Consequently it is impossible for both to be closed at one time in any position of the piston. The piston-rings 28 perform two functions. First, they force the exhaust from the ends of the valve-chest to travel through the longitudinal recess inthe bottom of the cylinder and hold it back, allowing the valve to move slower. If these rings were not there, the expansive fluid would feed too fast out of the end of the chest and the valve would move too swiftly and would open the port 5 and allow the iiuid to cushion the piston-head before it had struck with its drillpoint the full force of its blow against the rock, which would destroy its effect. Even if through inattentive feeding the drill-point fails to reach the rock, the piston should be allowed to strike its full blow against the front head, which is adapted to receive it. Consequently the valve is held back during its movement toward the front end 29 of the drill by preventing a too rapid escape of the fluid from that end of the chest, in order that it may not open the induction-port 5 too quickly, and thereby cushion the blow. The second function of the piston-rings 28 is to give the IOO IIO

head bearing-surface at its center in the cylinder, in order that it will wear longer and wear the cylinder evenly throughout its length. Upon the backward stroke of the piston the valve must open the port 4 in time to allow the expansive fluid to thoroughly cushion the piston before it reaches the back head, and to accomplish this the valve must move quicker on its backward stroke than on its forward. l make the valve do this by exhausting the expansive fluid faster from the rear end of the valve-chest than from the front end. This I accomplish by making the hole 18 larger in diameter than the hole 17, which allows the fluid to escape faster and the valve to move quicker and uncover the port 4,which allows the fluid to instantly fill the rear end of the cylinder and cushion the head. The relative size of the holes 17 and 1S to one another is governed largely by the character of the rock the drill is to work in. ln soft rock the hole 17 should be larger than when drilling in hard rock, in order to quicken the exhaust and the movement of the valve, which operates to slightly cushion the piston.

'lhe valve is o perated by the expansive fluid, and its action under it is as follows: Air or steam being admitted to the inlet 2, surrounds the central depression in the valve,from which it flows through the small holes Y and Z to the ends of the chest, and in the position of the valve and piston shown in Fig. 1 the fluid would flow through the various ports out of the exhaust-outlet 10; but as the hole 18 is larger than the hole 17 the fiuid would exhaust faster through it than through l 7. Consequently the pressure at the front end of the valve would be greatest and the valve would be moved by that pressure to the rear end of the chest. This would open the inductionport 4, allowing the fluid to flow into the cylinder and force the piston to the front end of the cylinder, but Vthe valve in moving to the rear end of the chest would close the hole 14 with its end seat 30, and the piston in moving to the front end would close the hole 18, and the fluid still flowing through the holes Y and Z is confined at the rear end and is free to exhaust at the front end. Consequently the valve is driven quickly to the forward end r and the port 4 is closed, the port 5 opened;

also the exhausthole 14 is opened and 13 is closed. The piston is then driven back by the fluid entering the front end of the cylinder through the port 5. The front end of the chest is now closed by the end 3l of the valve and the rear exhaust-holes 14 and 18 are open, and the fluid which flows continuously through the little holes Yand Z cannot escape at the front end, but can at the rear end. Consequently it forces the valve to the rear end of the chest. The valve and piston are thus reciprocated by the expansive fluid through the medium of the several ports, the exhaust from the cylinder passing through the induction-ports 4 and 5, through the exhaust-ports 9, 12, and 10, and out of the exhaust-outlet 11V.

The valve is thus balanced and operated by the expansive fluid cooperating with this arrangement of ports and of the piston. llt is impossible to freeze it at any portion of its stroke, and the combination makes a simple, inexpensive, durable, and positive valve mechanism.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the cylinder and the piston, of a valve-chest having a cylindrical valve-seat in its bore, an expansive fluid inlet and outlet and circumferential recesses forming ports in said bore connecting with said fluid inlet and outlet, a circular valve fitted to said chest, means for conducting the expansive fluid from the said fluid inlet-port through the valve to the ends of said valve-chest and from its end through the cylinder and around the central portion of the piston to said exhaust ports and outlet, and means on the piston-head for intermittently opening and closing the passages leading to the ends of the valve-chest.

2. The combination with the cylinder, the valve-chest and the piston, of one or more ring or collar portions on said piston at predetermined points whereby fluid-passages are formed around it, a longitudinal recess in the bore of said cylinder, a circumferential recess therein bisecting said longitudinal recess, and open to the exhaust-outlet or atmosphere, passages formed in said cylinder extending to the ends of said valve-chest and adapted to register with the fluid-passages in said piston, induction and exhaust ports in said valve-chest and cylinder, and a cylindrical valve in said valve-chest having iiuidpassages from its duid-inlet port to its ends arranged and adapted to be actuated by the expansive fluid to open and close said ports.

The combination of the cylinder having the exhaust recesses and passages, and the piston having the rings and reduced portions registering therewith and adapted to form passages from the valve-chest to the atmosphere with the valve having the circular seats with circumferential recesses interposed between them, and independent passage leading from the air or steam inlet port of said valve to the end of its chest, and communicating with said ports, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the cylinder, the exhaust-recesses in the bore thereof, the piston having the rings and the reduced portions, with the valve-chest and ports registering therewith and the valve adapted thereto.

5. The combination of the cylinder having the circumferential and longitudinal ports, a system of ports substantially as herein described arranged between said cylinder and the valve-chest the piston provided with circular seat portions arranged in operative re= lation to said ports and a valve having a plural= ity of circular seats and circular reduced por- IOO IIO

tions interposed between said seats and adapted for ports, and two independent passageways extending from its central receivingport through its body to its ends, and communicating with said system of ports whereby said valve is moved through the medium of the expansive fluid by unbalanced pressure upon its ends, due to the movements of said piston relatively to said ports, substantially as set forth and described.

6. The combination with the cylinder and the piston of an independent valve-chest having exhaust-passages leading from its ends to said cylinder and exhaust-passages of different predetermined areas in the shell of said cylinder registering` therewith and leading to its bore, for the purposes speciied.

7. The combination with the cylinder and the piston of a valve-chest having a circular valve-seat or bore, a threaded inlet and outlet thereto7 induction and exhaust ports leading to and from said eylind er and piston to the atmosphere,and a cylindrical valve having four circular seats and three intermediate reduced portions forming ports between said seats, holes extending into the ends of said valve and two small holes connecting its central or iiuid-inlet port with the said holes in its ends and with the ends of said chest and its exhaust-ports, whereby said valve is balanced and operated by alternate Huid-pressure on its ends.

S. The Combination of the cbf'lind'er, the piston, the valve-chest and the valve having the main induction and exhaust ports, the expansive-Huid passages in said valve from the fluid-inlet portion to the ends of the chest, the exhaust-holes in the ends of said chest7 the slots in the bottom of said chest registering therewith7 the differential holes through said cylinder registering with said slots, the independent circular ring portions and passages around the central portion of the piston adapted to register with the said differential holes, the intersecting longitudinal and circumferential recesses in the cylinders bore, the holes leading therefrom to the said valvechest, and the hole in said chest in the exhaust-outlet registering with one of said lastnamed holes, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN GEORGE LEYNER.

` Vitnesses:

FREDERIC S. WATKINs, FRED L. EMERSON. 

